Price
by paris1601
Summary: Kurogane wants to save Fai, but you can't always have a happy ending, even if you have Yuuko around. Character death. Mild KuroFai


_Contains __**character death**__, so please don't kill me for it cause you've been warned. Sorry, couldn't think of a title. _

**Price**

Thrust. Dodge. Slash. Elbow. Turn.

There was a rhythm to his movement, but Kurogane broke this deliberately to turn when he had the chance. There were a lot of demons around him, but he was still able to see a familiar light head of hair in the midst of all the black. He had just enough time to check on the condition of the blond when three attacks were directed at him at once.

_Damn it!_

Block. Dodge. Dodge. Slash.

He was glad that the princess, that boy, and the _manjuu_ had gone on ahead of them to the place where the feather was. This was no place for them. Even if that boy had already learned how to use a sword, this battlefield was not a place to be in. It was different from the battlefield for the Castle of the Moon. This was a place of pure carnage. Demons were more than willing to slaughter and just for the fun of seeing blood spill. This was something he usually enjoyed immensely. Maybe that was something else he didn't want the children to see.

But he was not enjoying as much now that he had that idiot magician to look after. Not that Fai couldn't protect himself; the other man was holding out just fine.

Right?

During a slight reprieve, he glanced over his shoulder again, just to be sure.

Sure, enough, that blond head was still in motion. Fai was still alive. There was relief, and then, Kurogane found himself forced to face even more opponents who had detected a slight opening created by his divided attention. Naturally, the ninja found no problem dispatching the opportunistic bastards.

Having felt the red gaze on him, Fai found his chance to shout out to his traveling companion, "Having fun, Kuro-pon?" Making this call made the Celesian almost miss a step and get hit. The mage, however, still managed a slightly clumsier-than-usual dodge.

"Shut up and fight, you idiot!" Kurogane growled, partly annoyed by the nickname, but mostly annoyed by the other's carelessness.

Parry. Kick. Slash.

"_These demons," Fai had observed earlier moments before the fight started, just after the pair had sent the children and the magical transporter creature away. "They're humans that changed into demons after being bitten by demons. Killing them could make you weaker, Kuro-pon."_

"_Then what do you propose I do?" the Japanese man demanded. "They're acting like demons. If I don't kill them, they'll come back to kill me no matter how many times I knock them down. They could go after the kids."_

_That had struck Fai. He drew out the daggers he had acquired in the country before this one and smiled a dangerous smile that should have scared a normal man witless, "I'll kill them."_

_How tedious, _the ninja complained to himself as he knocked out another string of demons. When he once again found the chance to turn in the mage's direction, he noticed that the array that attacked him was becoming smaller. The demons were beginning to realize that he wasn't killing them and that the bigger threat was the smaller man with golden hair.

He looked just in time to see Fai get overtaken by a swarm of demons. "Idiot! Get out of there!" Kurogane called out as the blond head that had reassured him earlier disappeared under a throng of dark bodies.

The other man didn't give a cry, not even a moan or a gasp.

"Damn it!" the ninja made his way through the mass of dark beings, making a path towards the presumably hurt magician, but it was not an easy feat. For every few steps forward he took, he was forced to move back by randomly timed attacks. He was about to give in to the temptation of using his ultimate attack to kill these beings once and for all when strange blue writings formed a chain around the area where the magician was and made short work of the demons. _Magic?_

The night ended at that moment and the moon began to set. The remaining demons began to disperse. A length of muddy white and blue stood out in the middle of the red and black dawn. He ran to it with little thought.

"Wake up, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry, Kuro-sama," Fai groaned. "I tried," he gestured towards a gaping wound on his arm that was distinctly the bite mark of a cursed demon.

**-**

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Kurogane yelled at the Witch of Dimensions projected through the white Mokona's gem. "I know that there's a price!"

"Your strength," Yuuko replied, a bit stiffly. She had begun to develop a soft spot for these children, but in situations like these, she couldn't give favor to them. Kurogane was alone this time. He had asked that Mokona be put to sleep and Syaoran had been left outside, taking care of the sleeping princess who was remembering her past. There was no one to share the price with other than the mage who was barely resisting the poisoned blood coursing through his veins. "To prevent the magician from turning into a demon, you have to give your strength."

"No!" Fai protested more powerfully than anticipated. "You can't. That price is too high!"

Kurogane glared at him. "What do you think would happen to the kids if you turn into a demon?"

"What do you think will happen to them if you lose your strength?" Fai countered. It was undeniable that a large part of their success was due to the superhuman strength of the ninja. Though Syaoran was strong, he wasn't strong enough yet.

"Fai," Yuuko interrupted the argument. "This isn't your wish?" she asked something she already knew the answer to.

"I don't want to turn into a demon, no," the mage responded sadly. "But, I know the price of such a wish. Even if we split the price, Kurogane and I, we'd both lose too much."

Now, not even Kurogane could deny that.

"So what do you wish for?" Yuuko inquired again.

Fai kept his gaze low to avoid Kurogane's and Yuuko's. He didn't want to lose his resolve. "I have two wishes."

"They will have a price," the woman reminded him.

"I know," Fai replied. "But, one will be a price paid by me to you, and the other will be a price paid by Kurogane, if he agrees."

Kurogane raised an eyebrow.

_**-**_

"_Your price for your wish for the children to forget you is your magic."_

Those words still echoed in Kurogane's head as he stood on the battlefield where Fai had gotten bitten the day before. Fai was beside him, shivering slightly because of the wind. The sun was setting. The moon was rising.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Kuro-pon," Fai apologized as he moved so he was in front of the ninja. He kept his back turned. "But, it worked out fine in the end, didn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurogane frowned at the cryptic message.

Fai didn't look back. "I was slowing you down."

"No," the brunet reassured his companion. "You gave me a reason to fight harder."

"Thank you for saying that," Fai glanced back, blue eyes meeting red. "Kuro-sama." The affection and goodbye in that one nickname was difficult to miss. And then the azure gaze was averted to the rising moon. "It's almost time."

Even before the sun completely disappeared, blond hair began to turn black and the lithe frame began to twitch painfully as the body structure of the Celes magician began to change. This was Kurogane's cue. He drew Souhi from its sheath and buried it into the transforming man's back, aiming for the lungs and the heart. He twisted the long sword along its axis to cause more damage, just to make sure. Demons were not so easy to kill.

The one who was barely a man didn't give a cry, not even a moan or a gasp.

Kurogane caught the falling, bloodied figure after withdrawing and dropping Souhi. No words were exchanged, and it appeared that Fai had already lost his ability to speak intelligibly. As the life drained from Fai, Kurogane felt his strength draining slightly from his body, as well.

"_And your price, Kurogane, is to lose a part of your strength for killing a man." Fai had smiled upon saying that. "But, at least you won't lose a sizable part of it. You'll still be able to take care of the children."_

"_You have no idea what this will really cost me, do you?" Kurogane said, implying something beyond Tomoyo-hime's curse._

_An odd look crossed Fai's face, "If you're going to give someone a gift, you shouldn't tell that person the true price, Kuro-chan."_

The ninja just waited for the light to fade from those blue eyes before acknowledging the demons that were beginning to appear one by one. He left the body there, half-demon and half-human, to decay or be eaten by other demons. He didn't care. Fai wasn't there, anymore. That creature wasn't Fai.

The only 'Fai' Kurogane knew was the bubble-headed blond in his memories.

-

Yuuko watched with great sadness as the group left that world, one person less. "Fai paid a high price to remove his memory from Syaoran, the princess, and even Mokona," she commented to no one in particular. "But, Kurogane paid a heavier price to retain Fai's memory in his heart."

_-_

_Random idea. Just thought I'd take a break from my other fics and write a one-shot. It's cheesy and cliché, and to be honest, I think it's crap. But I like my little piece of crap, thank you very much. D_

_Reviews are always much appreciated. Be critical if you must, but please be gentle, I threw this together in such a short while._

_Thanks for reading!_


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